Susan's link is blocked. Here is a bit of information about them:
Searchers of the Dead: Authority, Marginality, and the Interpretation of Plague in England, 1574–1665 Richelle Munkhoff University of Southern Mississippi, USA From: Gender & History Volume 11 Issue 1, Pages 1 - 29 Published Online: 16 Dec 2002 Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd 1999
ABSTRACT Searchers of the dead, women pensioners hired to examine and codify diseased bodies, were significant figures in the management of early modern plague epidemics, but have remained seriously neglected by scholars. This essay reclaims the searchers by investigating archival material such as parish records, legal documents, and bills of mortality. Active members of their parishes, the searchers occupied a paradoxical relationship to authority: subjected to the dangers of plague because of their economic dependence, the searchers also commanded tremendous power to define matters of life and death by literally naming plague on the bodies of their neighbours.
Michael, thanks for the picture. The Mole that we've read so much about is the long straight breakwater extending out into the sea just to the right of the towered building that is the most prominent feature in the garrison. If you zoom in on the picture you can see a line of ships heading for (or away from) it.
OED's first citation for "cold" in this sense is from 1537. Sam doesn't get a mention this time.
4.b. An inflammatory condition of the mucous membrane of the respiratory organs, accompanied by catarrh, hoarseness, and cough. Hence, to catch, get or take (a) cold, have a cold, etc.
1537 State Papers Hen. VIII, iv. (1836) 91 If I take any cold, incontinent the lax commythe agayne. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 193. 1609 B. Jonson Sil. Woman iii. i, One that has catched a cold, sir, and can scarce be heard six inches off. 1679 Lond. Gaz. No. 1436/4 His Majesty+has been indisposed for some days by a Cold he took. 1747 Wesley Prim. Physic (1762) Introd. 22 Obstructed Perspiration (vulgarly called catching Cold) is one great source of Diseases. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 154 319 All whom I entreat to sing are troubled with colds. 1751 Eliza Heywood Betsy Thoughtless IV. 287 Lady Loveit, having got a cold, had complained of some little disorder. 1871 Sir T. Watson Princ. & Pract. Physic (ed. 5) II. 55 Suffering under what is popularly called ‘a crying cold’. 1872 W. Aitken Sc. & Pract. Med. (ed. 6) II. 725 The symptoms of ‘a common cold’. 1886 Morley Crit. Misc. III. 17 The people of+St. Kilda believed that the arrival of a ship in the harbour inflicted on the islanders epidemic colds in the head.
"Every business man knows that cash payment is the soundest method of conducting business ... Never depart from the principle of buying and selling for ready money. Beware of long reckonings."
"my mind eased of a great deal of figures and castings"
"Castings" as such doesn't appear in the OED in the sense Sam is using it here. The following senses of the verb "cast" seem to be the appropriate reading:
VI. To reckon, calculate.
37. To count or reckon, so as to ascertain the sum of various numbers, orig. by means of counters, to the manipulation of which the word probably refers. a. intr. Formerly in the phrases to cast in or at accounts. Now, to add a column of figures. 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 135 If any man in dede wille keste in a countes. c1340 Cursor M. App. (Edinb. MS.) 20834 Qua wel can caste sal finde it euin. a1360 Song Yesterday 66 in E.E.P. (1862) 135 And in vr hertes acountes cast Day bi day. 138. Antecrist in Todd 3 Treat. Wyclif 138 To cast at þe countes. 1842 Tennyson Audley Court 43 Who would cast and balance at a desk? 1884 Law Times 25 Oct. 419/2 A resort to the court in order that+a mistake in casting be corrected.
[...]
†38. a. To reckon, calculate, estimate. Obs. a1300 Cursor M. 8775 Þe king did cast wit scantliun, And did mak al þe timber bun. 1475 Bk. Noblesse 39 After as it may be cast it was .cc.iiijxxxj. yere. 1542–75 Recorde Gr. Artes 78 Then will I caste the whole charge of one monethes commons at Oxforde. 1606 G. W[oodcocke] tr. Ivstine 2a, Wisely casting the inconuenience that might redound hereby vpon himself. a1642 Sir W. Monson Naval Tracts iii. (1704) 341/2 He must be+perfect in Casting the Tides. 1666 Pepys Diary 29 Oct.
Interestingly, that's how the entry ends, with a reference to a Pepys (forthcoming) entry, but without the cited example.
2. fig. a. To begin to doubt or waver in an argument, opinion, or purpose; to become less confident or determined; to hesitate or waver at. Now rare. 1533 More Answ. Poysoned Bk. iv. viii. Wks. 1112/1 Then the disciples and apostles+must nedes haue woondered, stonned, and staggered, and haue been more inquisitiue therin then they were. 1582 N. T. (Rheims) Matt. xxi. 21 If you shal haue faith, and stagger not. 1593 Bilson Govt. Christ's Ch. 96 They+caused the strong to stagger at the truth of Paules doctrine. 1628 Prynne Cens. Cozens 40 Wee need not doubt nor stager at this Conclusion. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 158 Mahomet promised them his second glorious comming after a thousand yeares, which they seriously lately looking for, and seeing themselues guld by such credulity began to stagger. 1738 J. Fisher Inestimable Value Div. Truth (1803) 46 They who once begin to stagger are at the next Door to Apostasy. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. iv. i, They stagger at the Double Representation, at the Vote by Head. 1883 J. Gilmour Mongols xvii. 202 A Buddhist+seems to stagger at the idea of a hell to the duration of which no period is assigned.
The Collect Britain site has moved. The new URL for Evelyn's plan of his gardens is http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/fe… An index for the full set of Evelyn holdings in the library is at http://www.bl.uk/search/og/search… I wasn't able to identify the "general discussion of Evelyn and garden theory and practice" that MR refers to.
OED has citations for the verb itself going back to 1440, at that time in a pejorative sense ("to talk idly and foolishly"). In a neutral sense, as Sam uses it ("to talk in a light and informal manner"), the first citation is from 1556.
"I exceedingly pittied this brave, unhappy person, who had lost with these Prizes 40000 pounds, after 20 yeares negotiation in the East Indies"
John Evelyn once again shows himself to be a man of rare humaneness - able to empathize with "the enemy." The more I learn about Evelyn, the better I like him.
"the strange nature of the sea-water in a darke night, that it seemed like fire upon every stroke of the oare"
Contra Terry, I don't believe this is red tide, which is visible only in the daytime, but marine phosphorescence, visible on a dark night, emitted by tiny crustaceans and other sea life. Google has various references for "marine phosphorescence"; the following one is quite readable and pertinent.
"... we sat down to consult of the disposing and supporting of the fleete with victuals and money, and for the sicke men and prisoners; and I did propose the taking out some goods out of the prizes, to the value of 10,000l., which was accorded to ..."
Good for Sam. That was the decent and also the obviously reasonable thing to do. With Albemarle and Sandwich signing off on it, one might hope there would not be "inconveniences" associated with it, but with that amount of money at stake, you never can tell.
Sam gets an OED mention for this one: 5. A fit of indignation; a huff, pet, rage, passion. Used with a, the, or without article. Now Sc. (a) 1592 Greene Upst. Courtier Wks. (Grosart) XI. 279 These were going away in a snuff, for beeing thus plainly taunted. 1605 Shakes. Lear iii. i. 26 Either in snuffes, and packings of the Dukes, Or the hard Reine which both of them hath borne Against the old kinde King. c1620 Bp. Hall Contempl., O.T. xiv. (1628) 1145 Abners duty+not to flye out in a snuffe. 1607 S. Collins Serm. (1608) 184 Smothering the talent that he lent thee+in snuffe, and pelting discontent. 1609 B. Jonson Sil. Wom. iv. v, He went away in snuffe, and I followed him. 1665 Pepys Diary 19 Sept., I find they go up in snuffe to bed without taking any manner of leave of them. 1886 Stevenson Kidnapped iii. 18 Dinnae fly up in the snuff at me. 1898 J. M. Cobban Angel of Covenant xi. 124 The mighty high snuff and dudgeon ye gaed aff wi'.
Comments
First Reading
About Tuesday 31 October 1665
Paul Chapin • Link
Susan's link is blocked. Here is a bit of information about them:
Searchers of the Dead: Authority, Marginality, and the Interpretation of Plague in England, 1574–1665
Richelle Munkhoff
University of Southern Mississippi, USA
From: Gender & History
Volume 11 Issue 1, Pages 1 - 29
Published Online: 16 Dec 2002
Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd 1999
ABSTRACT
Searchers of the dead, women pensioners hired to examine and codify diseased bodies, were significant figures in the management of early modern plague epidemics, but have remained seriously neglected by scholars. This essay reclaims the searchers by investigating archival material such as parish records, legal documents, and bills of mortality. Active members of their parishes, the searchers occupied a paradoxical relationship to authority: subjected to the dangers of plague because of their economic dependence, the searchers also commanded tremendous power to define matters of life and death by literally naming plague on the bodies of their neighbours.
About Tangier, Morocco
Paul Chapin • Link
Michael, thanks for the picture. The Mole that we've read so much about is the long straight breakwater extending out into the sea just to the right of the towered building that is the most prominent feature in the garrison. If you zoom in on the picture you can see a line of ships heading for (or away from) it.
About Tuesday 24 October 1665
Paul Chapin • Link
OED's first citation for "cold" in this sense is from 1537. Sam doesn't get a mention this time.
4.b. An inflammatory condition of the mucous membrane of the respiratory organs, accompanied by catarrh, hoarseness, and cough. Hence, to catch, get or take (a) cold, have a cold, etc.
1537 State Papers Hen. VIII, iv. (1836) 91 If I take any cold, incontinent the lax commythe agayne. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 193. 1609 B. Jonson Sil. Woman iii. i, One that has catched a cold, sir, and can scarce be heard six inches off. 1679 Lond. Gaz. No. 1436/4 His Majesty+has been indisposed for some days by a Cold he took. 1747 Wesley Prim. Physic (1762) Introd. 22 Obstructed Perspiration (vulgarly called catching Cold) is one great source of Diseases. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 154 319 All whom I entreat to sing are troubled with colds. 1751 Eliza Heywood Betsy Thoughtless IV. 287 Lady Loveit, having got a cold, had complained of some little disorder. 1871 Sir T. Watson Princ. & Pract. Physic (ed. 5) II. 55 Suffering under what is popularly called ‘a crying cold’. 1872 W. Aitken Sc. & Pract. Med. (ed. 6) II. 725 The symptoms of ‘a common cold’. 1886 Morley Crit. Misc. III. 17 The people of+St. Kilda believed that the arrival of a ship in the harbour inflicted on the islanders epidemic colds in the head.
About Tuesday 24 October 1665
Paul Chapin • Link
to the fleet/ce
I don't know if Robert intends to be serious, but the slip was clearly on the part of Gutenberg's scanner.
About Wednesday 18 October 1665
Paul Chapin • Link
"A short reckoning is the speedy settlement of an account."
Per http://www.answers.com/topic/shor… (with citations going back to 1530)
"Every business man knows that cash payment is the soundest method of conducting business ... Never depart from the principle of buying and selling for ready money. Beware of long reckonings."
From "Thrift", by Samuel Smiles, 1876
Per http://books.google.com/books?id=…
About Wednesday 18 October 1665
Paul Chapin • Link
"my mind eased of a great deal of figures and castings"
"Castings" as such doesn't appear in the OED in the sense Sam is using it here. The following senses of the verb "cast" seem to be the appropriate reading:
VI. To reckon, calculate.
37. To count or reckon, so as to ascertain the sum of various numbers, orig. by means of counters, to the manipulation of which the word probably refers. a. intr. Formerly in the phrases to cast in or at accounts. Now, to add a column of figures.
1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 135 If any man in dede wille keste in a countes. c1340 Cursor M. App. (Edinb. MS.) 20834 Qua wel can caste sal finde it euin. a1360 Song Yesterday 66 in E.E.P. (1862) 135 And in vr hertes acountes cast Day bi day. 138. Antecrist in Todd 3 Treat. Wyclif 138 To cast at þe countes. 1842 Tennyson Audley Court 43 Who would cast and balance at a desk? 1884 Law Times 25 Oct. 419/2 A resort to the court in order that+a mistake in casting be corrected.
[...]
†38. a. To reckon, calculate, estimate. Obs.
a1300 Cursor M. 8775 Þe king did cast wit scantliun, And did mak al þe timber bun. 1475 Bk. Noblesse 39 After as it may be cast it was .cc.iiijxxxj. yere. 1542–75 Recorde Gr. Artes 78 Then will I caste the whole charge of one monethes commons at Oxforde. 1606 G. W[oodcocke] tr. Ivstine 2a, Wisely casting the inconuenience that might redound hereby vpon himself. a1642 Sir W. Monson Naval Tracts iii. (1704) 341/2 He must be+perfect in Casting the Tides. 1666 Pepys Diary 29 Oct.
Interestingly, that's how the entry ends, with a reference to a Pepys (forthcoming) entry, but without the cited example.
About Tuesday 10 October 1665
Paul Chapin • Link
So Evelyn did get his 10K. This is the first that's been clear, at least to me. Thanks, Dirk.
About Tuesday 10 October 1665
Paul Chapin • Link
Jeannine, thanks. That's a big help.
About Wednesday 11 October 1665
Paul Chapin • Link
"I did stagger at it"
Under the OED entry for "stagger" (v.i.):
2. fig. a. To begin to doubt or waver in an argument, opinion, or purpose; to become less confident or determined; to hesitate or waver at. Now rare.
1533 More Answ. Poysoned Bk. iv. viii. Wks. 1112/1 Then the disciples and apostles+must nedes haue woondered, stonned, and staggered, and haue been more inquisitiue therin then they were. 1582 N. T. (Rheims) Matt. xxi. 21 If you shal haue faith, and stagger not. 1593 Bilson Govt. Christ's Ch. 96 They+caused the strong to stagger at the truth of Paules doctrine. 1628 Prynne Cens. Cozens 40 Wee need not doubt nor stager at this Conclusion. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 158 Mahomet promised them his second glorious comming after a thousand yeares, which they seriously lately looking for, and seeing themselues guld by such credulity began to stagger. 1738 J. Fisher Inestimable Value Div. Truth (1803) 46 They who once begin to stagger are at the next Door to Apostasy. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. iv. i, They stagger at the Double Representation, at the Vote by Head. 1883 J. Gilmour Mongols xvii. 202 A Buddhist+seems to stagger at the idea of a hell to the duration of which no period is assigned.
About Tuesday 10 October 1665
Paul Chapin • Link
I'm afraid Sam has lost me in the convoluted story about the prize goods. Do any of the ancillary sources explain what's going on better than he does?
About Sayes Court, Deptford
Paul Chapin • Link
The Collect Britain site has moved. The new URL for Evelyn's plan of his gardens is http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/fe…
An index for the full set of Evelyn holdings in the library is at
http://www.bl.uk/search/og/search…
I wasn't able to identify the "general discussion of Evelyn and garden theory and practice" that MR refers to.
About Sunday 1 October 1665
Paul Chapin • Link
"a council of wary"
Obviously a scanning error for "warr," but amusingly apt as it stands.
About Sunday 1 October 1665
Paul Chapin • Link
chat
OED has citations for the verb itself going back to 1440, at that time in a pejorative sense ("to talk idly and foolishly"). In a neutral sense, as Sam uses it ("to talk in a light and informal manner"), the first citation is from 1556.
About Friday 29 September 1665
Paul Chapin • Link
"I exceedingly pittied this brave, unhappy person, who had lost with these Prizes 40000 pounds, after 20 yeares negotiation in the East Indies"
John Evelyn once again shows himself to be a man of rare humaneness - able to empathize with "the enemy." The more I learn about Evelyn, the better I like him.
About Thursday 28 September 1665
Paul Chapin • Link
Jeannine, welcome back, and condolences.
About Monday 25 September 1665
Paul Chapin • Link
"the strange nature of the sea-water in a darke night, that it seemed like fire upon every stroke of the oare"
Contra Terry, I don't believe this is red tide, which is visible only in the daytime, but marine phosphorescence, visible on a dark night, emitted by tiny crustaceans and other sea life. Google has various references for "marine phosphorescence"; the following one is quite readable and pertinent.
http://www.web-books.com/Classics…
About Monday 25 September 1665
Paul Chapin • Link
"Sir G. Askue, of whom whatever the matter is, the world is silent altogether"
What a great comment. LOL, as they say.
About Sunday 24 September 1665
Paul Chapin • Link
Michael, how do we know these seamen were Dutch?
About Saturday 23 September 1665
Paul Chapin • Link
"... we sat down to consult of the disposing and supporting of the fleete with victuals and money, and for the sicke men and prisoners; and I did propose the taking out some goods out of the prizes, to the value of 10,000l., which was accorded to ..."
Good for Sam. That was the decent and also the obviously reasonable thing to do. With Albemarle and Sandwich signing off on it, one might hope there would not be "inconveniences" associated with it, but with that amount of money at stake, you never can tell.
About Tuesday 19 September 1665
Paul Chapin • Link
"they go up in snuffe to bed"
Sam gets an OED mention for this one:
5. A fit of indignation; a huff, pet, rage, passion. Used with a, the, or without article. Now Sc.
(a) 1592 Greene Upst. Courtier Wks. (Grosart) XI. 279 These were going away in a snuff, for beeing thus plainly taunted. 1605 Shakes. Lear iii. i. 26 Either in snuffes, and packings of the Dukes, Or the hard Reine which both of them hath borne Against the old kinde King. c1620 Bp. Hall Contempl., O.T. xiv. (1628) 1145 Abners duty+not to flye out in a snuffe. 1607 S. Collins Serm. (1608) 184 Smothering the talent that he lent thee+in snuffe, and pelting discontent. 1609 B. Jonson Sil. Wom. iv. v, He went away in snuffe, and I followed him. 1665 Pepys Diary 19 Sept., I find they go up in snuffe to bed without taking any manner of leave of them. 1886 Stevenson Kidnapped iii. 18 Dinnae fly up in the snuff at me. 1898 J. M. Cobban Angel of Covenant xi. 124 The mighty high snuff and dudgeon ye gaed aff wi'.